Source: entry.housesawards.com.au via David on Pinterest
photographer: Trevor Mein
architect: John Wardle Architect
Contemporary residential architecture is plagued by the fascination with shiny white jewellery boxes that we are supposed to aspire to live in. All our life style magazines are filled with these images of bright white boxes with glass on glass and stainless steel trims and things. Where has the richness of the tactile gone? where is the space that is like a pair of comfy old shoes? Do we really accept that the brightly finished two pack polyurethane cupboards have a place in our so called sustainable home.
What is the ideal project for HACK architecture?
I have been thinking about this for a while now, what would constitute the ideal project be for HACK architecture. There are a few assumptions made here, the first of which is that you understand a little of what we are about. So I think there is actually more then one single ideal project that we would like to see walk in to the office, but for a residential project it would be a daring client that has an existing house that they would like to see taken apart piece by piece and re-worked back into a new form. This inherently starts off on the right foot for a sustainable design. Some materials maybe used in there whole form, but others maybe reused in totally new ways. Of cause there would be new materials required to get to an acceptable end point. I think this is one of those constrains that offer a rich field for exploration and they end results never really known until they are reached. As I said, this requires a brave sole to go on such a journey and one keen to achieve a sustainable design.
Why would you do this?, I here you ask. There are a couple of reasons for this, first, some of the best designs come out of having some strange or odd constraints and the answers to these constraints require exploration to find the solution. Secondly, it adds layers of the past representing itself in a new way. A layer of richness that can only be gained from the time and the meaning that we place on objects over time. This can redefine the old, but also inform the new in a way that can not be gained from a blank canvas approach.
What are your thoughts on this type of approach? or do you prefer the shiny white boxes?
